Grace For Your Day May 20

The men of our church are currently going through the parables of Jesus on Tuesday nights. While the numbers vary, some scholars believe that there are 39 of them in the Bible as can be seen in the following list:

1. The Two Houses (Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49)
2. The New Cloth (Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21; Luke 5:36)
3. The New Wineskin (Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37-39)
4. The Rude Children (Matthew 11:16-19; Luke 7:31-35)
5. The Sower (Matthew 13:5-8; Mark 4:3-8)
6. The Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30)
7. The Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32; Luke 13:18-19)
8. The Yeast (Matthew 13:33)
9. The Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44)
10. The Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46)
11. The Fishing Net (Matthew 13:47-50)
12. The House Owner (Matthew 13:52)
13. The Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-25)
14. The Vineyard Workers (Mathew 20:1-16)
15. The Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)
16. The Wicked Vinegrowers (Matthew 21:33-44; Mark 12:1-11; Luke 20:9-18)
17. The Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14)
18. The Fig Tree (Matthew 24:32-35; Mark 13:28-31; Muke 21:29-33)
19. The Two Servants (Matthew 24:45-51)
20. The Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)
21. The Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)
22. The Seed Growing Secretly (Mark 4:26-29)
23. The Doorkeepr (Mark 13:34-37; Luke 12:35-40)
24. The Two Debtors (Luke 7:41-43)
25. The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
26. The Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:5-8)
27. The Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21)
28. The Wise and Foolish Servants (Luke 12:42-48)
29. The Barren Fig Tree (Luke 13:6-9)
30. The Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24)
31. The Unfinished Tower and the King at War (Luke 14:28-33)
32. The Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:3-7)
33. The Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10)
34. The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
35. The Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1-9)
36. The Servant’s Reward (Luke 17:7-10)
37. The Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8)
38. The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14)
39. The Minas (Luke 19:11-27)

In our studies in Mark, we are currently coming up to the fifth one in this list and that is the Parable of the Sower. Mark 4:1-9 says:

He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

One thing that strikes you as you read this parable is how simple it is. Jesus uses an image that everyone was familiar with at this time and that is the image of a sower (farmer) scattering seed. Later on, we discover that the seed is the Word of God (verse 14) and the sower is someone who presents it to you. So the question that Jesus wants you to consider as you read this passage is: What are you doing with the Word of God as it is presented?

The Pharisees and scribes in the Gospel of Mark were rejecting it. They rejected it in Mark 2 when Jesus healed the paralytic. They rejected it in Mark 3 when He healed the man with the withered hand and they rejected it again when the crowds came to Him in the same chapter (see verses 20-30). However, other people like the paralytic in Mark 2 received it. So did Simon and Andrew (Mark 1:16-18). So did James and John (Mark 1:19-20). So did Matthew the tax collector (Mark 2:14-17) and the lesson is that you want to do the same this which is what we are going to talk about this week at Grace Fellowship Church.

This Sunday, we are going to talk about the Parable of the Sower. While it may not be the most famous parable that Jesus ever preached, it is certainly one of the most powerful ones (in my opinion) because we all have a tendency to ignore the Word of God. None of us is free from the tendency to become like the thorny soil and let the worries of this world choke it away from us. But the good news is that you may start off life like the thorny soil and end up like the good soil if you just cry out to Jesus. He can open up your heart to hear the Word in ways that you never thought possible if you will just ask Him to.

Please join us as we talk about that on Sunday. The service will begin at 9:30 and it will be recorded and posted on You Tube later that day for all those who cannot make it in person. May the Lord give you a great week and I look forward to seeing you there.

– Jeremy Cagle